Rose Bowl 2019

Rose Bowl 2019 : The Urban Meyer farewell tour begins and ends today in the 2019 Rose Bowl as the Ohio State Buckeyes take on the Washington Huskies on the ESPN Sports cable TV channel. OSU has never played in a Rose Bowl with Meyer as head coach, so there’s extra incentive for the players to send their coach off to a new position with a win.

Rose Bowl 2019: The 2019 Rose Bowl will feature a matchup between the No. 5 Ohio State Buckeyes (12-1) and No. 9 Washington Huskies (10-3) in Pasadena, Ca., on New Year’s Day. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET. The Buckeyes are 6.5-point favorites, while the over-under for total points scored is 57.5 in the latest Washington vs. Ohio State odds. With the Rose Bowl Parade and then a premier matchup for the game, this is sure to be one of the most highly-anticipated games of bowl season.

Ohio State and Washington play at 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2019. The game is on ESPN. After serving as a College Football Playoff semifinal last season, the Rose Bowl is back to a Big Ten vs. Pac-12 matchup.

For the first time in Rose Bowl history, the Buckeyes and Huskies meet, though it’s the 12th meeting between the two programs overall.

For Washington, it’s the Huskies first appearance in the Rose Bowl since beating Drew Brees and Purdue, 34-24, in the 2001 game. The Huskies earned their spot in this season’s game by beating Utah in the Pac-12 title game, 10-3.

Ohio State is playing in its first Rose Bowl Game since Jan. 1, 2010, when the Buckeyes beat Oregon, 26-17. In fact, since playing in the Rose Bowl eight times from 1969 to 1985, this will be only the program’s third appearance (1997, 2010 and now in 2019). The Buckeyes beat Northwestern in the Big Ten title game to get their spot in the Rose Bowl.

Ohio State went 12-1, but missed out on the College Football Playoff semifinals, ranking only No. 6. But Ohio State shouldn’t have to worry about finding extra motivation, as it will be coach Urban Meyer’s final game with the Buckeyes.

With Heisman finalist Dwayne Haskins, who led the country in passing yards this season, the Buckeyes come in with one of the best defenses in the country. Washington has the 12th ranked defense in yards per game (301.8), while Ohio State averages 373 yards a game through the air.

Washington probably can’t keep up if the game turns into a can-you-keep-pace shootout, even with star RB Myles Gaskin.

Ohio State’s defense hasn’t been the tough unit it usually is each season, but the Buckeyes have made it a habit of coming up with key stops when needed. That might be enough again.